Lehighton Area School District approved a two-year contract agreement Monday night with the union representing its support staff.

The contract with the Lehighton Area Educational Support Personnel Association covers the district’s secretaries, custodians, cleaners, cafeteria workers, paraprofessionals, nurses, attendance officers, network analysts, and emotional support interventionists. It will run through the end of the 2022-23 school year.

“Nobody realizes how integral the support organization is to our district and we need to show them the respect they deserve,” board President Larry Stern said in voting to approve the pact.

Board member Dave Bradley voted against the contract, saying he objected to the fact that it was negotiated by Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver and Business Manager Edward Rarick without representation from school board members.

Director Rita Spinelli, however, said while she did not attend the negotiation sessions, she was kept apprised of the talks and progress that was taking place.

“Just because I didn’t sit in the room, doesn’t mean I didn’t go over everything,” she said. “We knew what was going on and taking place every step of the way.”

Others critiqued the fact that the district didn’t use a professional negotiator, which administration said in the past has cost about $180 per hour and includes charges for responses by email.

“We saved a lot of money by not having a professional negotiator,” director Wayne Wentz said.

Cleaver called it a fair agreement and said it had received unanimous support from the union.

Salaries will depend on step movement within the contract, but for 2021-22, 12-month secretaries range from $27,328 to $43,012, custodians range from $25,569 to $41,445, paraprofessionals range from $16,336 to $27,852, and nurses range from $19,049 to $29,293.

At the time of retirement, support employees with at least 10 years of continuous service can choose to receive $75 for each year of service and $65 per day for unused sick time, or cash in sick time for extended coverage on the district’s health and dental plans. For 75 unused sick days, the district will provide the employee one year of coverage on the plans at no contribution cost to the employee.

For 150 unused sick days, the employee can get one year of coverage for themselves and their spouse. To obtain those benefits, an employee must submit notice of retirement at least three months in advance.

Similar to its recently approved contract with the teachers’ union, the district offered the support union a High Deductible/Health Savings Account health benefits plan with the district fully funding the $2,000/$4,000 deductible in the first year.

For employees not enrolled in the High Deductible/HSA plan, the cost of the contribution will be 2% of the employee’s yearly salary. Employees enrolled in the High Deductible/HSA plan, will have a contribution cost of 2% of the premium cost of the plan.

During the term of the contract, current cafeteria employees of the district will remain employed. As vacancies occur, however, the district may not fill them, but rather the cafeteria management company may hire replacements as deemed necessary. New cafeteria employees would not be members of the bargaining unit.